These footsteps are the start of something beutiful
by Immortal-sassy-ward-shipper
Summary: He hears the footsteps but doesn't know this will be the start of something he could never of imagined, the beginning of a new life.


When he heard the footsteps he wasn't sure whether they were of shield or hydra but he knew they were from a woman, far too light for anyone else.

It struck him that he really didn't care anymore, he had tried to fight against the monster in the pit of his stomach, that dark twisted thing that he would never embrace and just ignored. He had tried and it was never good enough, not for her, not for anyone.

When nothing happened he decided he isn't going to go silently "Don't happen to have any whisky on you, do you? Last wish of the dead man" he smirked weakly.

"I didn't take you for that sort of man, Agent Ward" he did look up then, surprised to see Raina, she had the damn obelisk as well, and he offered her a pseudo charming smile "what are you still doing up here then, has the drill not finished yet?" he asked.

Raina was watching him curiously "It is finished but then I remembered you, I wasn't going to go down there without you" she said and he barked a harsh laugh "I'm pretty sure only the worthy are allowed down there and I'm just human" yet she merely smiles like she was above all mortal knowledge and knew what he didn't.

"That's what you believe? It's no surprise you wouldn't know but you're so much more than human" she told him softly "I knew you were crazy" he winced at the pain that moving brought as he shifted slightly.

"I can tell you more later, but right now you should come with me. I can see it in you, I always have, Garrett didn't and Skye doesn't but I do, come with me and we can see your true self together" she pressed the obelisk into his hand without asking and he sucked in air through clenched teeth as pure power hit him, that monster raised its head and the pain of the bullets seemed like nothing now.

"Shall we go?" she offered him a hand and he nodded, his thoughts jumbled, head no longer his own.

/

He leaned against the chamber wall to steady himself; the feeling of being home for once in his life engulfed him and Raina smiled knowingly. "You don't believe me still?" she remarked casually "maybe because I actually know where I came from" he replied quickly and knowledge practically oozes from her.

"Ah, you see there's a lot you don't know. I looked into you, Agent Ward, into who you are. I saw something in you from the day we met. I could feel it. Did you know you were adopted? Of course not, I did my own research into you and all the while distracted you with Skye, it just wasn't the right time to tell you and Garrett didn't care for special people, people like us" she told him, strolling idly around the chamber before she rounded back to him, she outlined his cheekbones with her thumb and his skin burnt where she touched him, setting him on fire with power and knowledge.

"I'm nothing special" it was a sharp contrast to what he had told Skye but it was the truth to him. Raina cocked her head at him slightly "well, there's always time later" Skye had finally arrived.

/

Skye didn't know how Ward was down here, or even why, but she saw the obelisk in his hand "So, I thought you said no more lies" she got their attention and Raina pulled back from Ward to look at her "I knew you would come" the woman said.

"Well someone has to stop you" Skye replied focussing on the task at hand. "Your whole life, our whole lives have been leading to this moment" Raina glanced back at Ward, sharing something with him Skye wasn't privileged enough to know, "sorry but I don't buy into the whole 'this is your destiny' thing. I'm taking the obelisk and leaving, there are too many lives at stake. Not that either of you really care" she kept the gun steady, Ward rolled his eyes but he didn't seem to have a clue what was really going on.

"You've got it wrong. Whitehall, everyone has it all wrong. It doesn't destroy life, it gives new life. We all finally get to find out what we become" the obelisk was glowing in Wards hand "both of you, stop it right now" Skye ordered, a desperate tone pushing into her voice.

"Don't look at me" Ward half shrugged "we can't stop it, none of us can, not now" Raina smiled as the obelisk floated from Ward's hand to the podium.

The walls started to close in on them the second it landed and Ward glances around casually but he didn't really seem to care what was going to happen anymore, death was already a chance on the cards for him after Skye, in contrast Skye was panicked while Raina was at ease.

"If anyone wants to leave, now's your chance" she told them with excitement just oozing from her "I have to admit, I'm just a tiny bit nervous" she confessed "not the only one" Ward muttered.

/

"That is one strange…thing" Ward whispered fascinated but unlike he and Raina, the two shield agents were more occupied with wanting to stop it.

"How do we stop it" Trip asked, they assumed he was asking Skye "I don't think we can" she answered quietly somehow knowing there really was none.

"What's supposed to happen" no one said anything for a moment as it glowed "something beautiful" Raina finally answered before gas burst from the crystals knocking them all back. "What in hell was that" Ward choked out holding his side where Skye shot him, pain bursting from the area.

There was no opportunity for an answer this time before they started to be consumed by stone that was engulfing them all slowly, all except Trip, and it wasn't Skye that Ward looked at last but Raina.

/

He didn't expect to open his eyes, to break out from the darkness, but he did, he was still in the chamber and the walls were beginning to open again.

"Why are you alive but not him" he looked up slowly to see Skye, stood on the opposite side of the chamber with pieces of rock all around them and then he noticed the fact Trip was no longer there "I don't know what-" the pain that hit him suddenly stopped him finishing, he keeled forward instead, trying to steady himself "Christ" he heard distantly and then the sound of metal falling to the floor.

/

Skye wasn't sure what she was witnessing but she could tell she didn't want to stay there, not when his eyes were getting darker by the second and dark veins crawling under his skin, the bullets she put in him dropping to the floor.

"Skye" she turned to see Coulson rushing towards her "we need to go" she told him tearfully "what is it? What's wrong?" he asked, trying to look around.

"Trips dead and if we stay…" the ground shook slightly as she glanced back to where Ward was slowly catching his breathe and regaining his strength.

Coulson followed her line of sight and nodded, she could see the question in his eyes of how ward was there and alive and where was Trip but was something they would have to deal with later. They needed to go.

/

He couldn't breathe, it felt like he was being torn apart and his heart beat roared in his ears.

It all came to a halt at once and he instinctively knew it to be the calm before a storm, just like he now knew Raina was telling the truth. He climbed up unsteadily and looked for Raina, finding her in the dark where she had hidden.

"Raina?" the sound of his own voice surprised him; smooth yet rough and powerful.

He knew it was her; the spikes and danger were her as well. Just another part. Her eyes were yellow and looking at him curiously, as if asking why he was staring. He reached out and paused, restrained himself, fingers hovered over her skin.

"May I?" he asked unsurely and after a moment she nodded, he ghosted his fingers over the spike-like things under her eyes "amazing" he breathed and she changed before his eyes to the girl in the flower dress he had always known.

"We should go" he commented "where to now" she sighed more than questioned "I have safe houses everywhere" he forced a smile through the pain. It wasn't even something they had to think about, staying together.

/

He stumbled in the door of the apartment, unable to stand anymore and she took his arm to help him in to the bed straight down the hall.

"Why am I the only one in pain right now" he growled, falling to the bed "I told you, you're different" she rolled her eyes, it not being the first time she had to tell him.

"Damnit, there's only one room here" he muttered "I'm fine" she insisted but he stubbornly shook his head and held out a hand "It's a big bed. I'm a bit of a gentleman" he smiled stupidly up at her.

She laughed as he pulled her down to the bed after receiving no answer "See, big bed" he gloated smugly "fine, but you should rest Grant. There's a lot to come" no one brought up the use of his first name when so few used it "you too" he muttered back but he was already out of it and asleep in seconds.

She settled properly on the bed with a sigh, facing him, and absently ran her fingers through his short hair "you'll see everything differently tomorrow."

/

Raina woke up to an empty bed where there had been a warm presence not long before; she could hear soft music in the distance and almost felt peaceful.

This wasn't her life, she knew that and this wasn't somewhere she knew either. Ward walked in with a cup and a plate "you seemed really tired, you like coffee?" he placed the plate of toast on the bedside table and held the cup out to her which she took gratefully and patted the bed beside her "Of course."

He took the offered place casually "How do you feel?" he asked curiously "I feel good. You?" she watched him closely "better…better than I remember ever feeling" he admitted, shifting about.

"I'm not surprised" she commented "you said you did research?" he remembered "I did, I could see something in you the moment we met" she confirmed.

"What did you find?" he asked interested and she sipped her coffee, it wasn't too bad "I found that you were adopted. And you're not human" she informed.

"Why did I have to go down there? Like you two" he wondered "I looked at your DNA. You're half like me and half alien. That's why, the inhuman side of you locked your alien side so you had to activate that first" she sighed, it had taken time and consultation to figure out.

"Oh, okay. Good to know" he took it well outwardly but inside his stomach churned.

/

"We can always look for what happened" Raina told him one day, letting him know she would help him find out, but he still wasn't sure if he even wanted to know. One family had been enough for him. "Maybe someday. Just…just not today."

/

He snapped the neck of a man in Chicago without even laying a finger on him and Raina looked at him gratefully.

"Thanks for saving my life" she said "It was nothing, just…finding out what I can do now" he dismissed it with shaking hands.

He found it amazing. Completely amazing and new that she hadn't looked at him in disgust or judgement or comdenation.

/

She shoved him against the wall roughly, a petit force of nature, "I don't care if you can heal, never do that again" she growled furiously.

"Excuse me but I think I just stopped them from poisoning you" he replied heatedly, looking down at her.

Neither were willing to be the first to back down from the glaring match until she grabbed him by the collar and dragged him down for a kiss.

He near picked her up without breaking it and they barely made it to the bed. He let her have the power.

/

They nearly killed each other

She dragged her nails down his chest and he bit down hard at the join of her shoulder to her neck.

It was more like trying to kill each other than making love, it had been rough and merciless and bruising on both ends.

She made him feel like more than he was while he gave her everything he is and more.

/

They collapsed against the sheets when it was over and he stroked her hair carefully but fascinated with the mass of curls while she brushed his, finally regrown, from dark eyes slowly getting brighter and brighter.

/

She spun tensely when the hand gipped her shoulder "Raina, been a long time" Coulson remarked "now we're taking you in."

"No" she stepped back but had nowhere to go "stand down Raina, you're outnumbered" May stepped up, weapon ready.

"Get the fuck away from my wife" a force yanked them both back and when they regained their footing Ward was there, side by side with Raina and the identical rings on their fingers shone.

"You're married" Lance was incredulous, he'd heard a lot of stories, and both looked rather offended

"Excuse me, there's nothing wrong with an interspecies marriage" Raina said for them both "we're quite happily married for that fact" Ward added proudly, hands intertwined.

"I feel like I'm seeing something wrong" Simmons commented on the comms "very..strange" Fitz agreed.

"Interspecies" Coulson repeated incredulously "this is amusing, aren't they cute darling" Raina sighed leaning her head on Ward's arm "quite" he agreed.

"Aren't you patronising and confusing" Lance mocked and Bobbi shot him a look "Grant isn't human therefore interspecies" Raina rolled her eyes.

"Moved on fast, didn't you?" May said "shouldn't you be rejoicing?" Ward retorted quickly "I should be putting two between your eyes" she fired back "well, that would be more threatening if I was human and it actually would harm me" he smirked.

"Now, now darling. We've had a talk about riling people up for fun when they have weapons" Raina chastised him and he smiled down affectionately at her "sorry sweetheart" she had him wrapped around her little finger.

"Poor bastard" Lance muttered "I feel nauseous. That is sickly sweet" Bobbi shot him another look, the kind that only being married to him could achieve.

"I think we should all calm down and go our separate ways. We won't be a bother; we're taking a little trip" Raina smiled sweetly at them all "and ignore any energy signatures, it's nothing important" Ward added cheerily.

/

"Are you ok?" Raina took a seat on the couch next to Ward "fine" she knew better of course and curled into his side.

"Let's get married" he broke the silence eventually "what?" she laughed, looking up at him from the TV and he smiled now "let's go get married" he repeated "It's been a long day. You wouldn't ask otherwise" she shook her head.

"Am I not allowed to want to marry the most beautiful, smart, resourceful, brilliant and amazing woman in the world who I happen to love?" he asked teasingly "When you get hit with very bad news the same day then no. There's a week long waiting time" she replied.

"Excuse me but I don't know who to call to get a blessing to ask. I am totally ready" he scoffed offended "oh really" she laughed.

He slid off the couch and got onto one knee, pulling off the chain from around his neck and unhooking the ring that hung from it. "Raina, will you marry me?" he asked seriously "you're actually doing this?" she shook her head amused "of course sweetheart."

"Ask me again later."

/

"Just because were in public I won't say yes" she said dryly.

/

He looked up when Raina walked in "no" she didn't even give him a chance and he spun the laptop around with a smug grin.

"I didn't know who to ask so I guessed someone" Cal was on the screen and at her silence Ward frowned "Did I do something wrong? Are you ok? I'm sorry if I've hurt you" he apologised immediately "I gave him my blessing, he's planned it all" Cal piped up.

She shook her head at them fondly "you idiot" she smiled exasperatedly, the puppy he had taken in from the street bound in carrying a box and sat at her feet.

"You idiot" she repeated, bending to get it, the same ring waiting there in the box with a note on a little string 'I love you, will you marry me xx' she slipped the ring on after reading the inscription.

"Peu importe la peine, vous avez toujours me sauver" she read it smiling "no matter the trouble, you always save me" he translated before she even asked.

"So what have you planned?"

/

The day they found out the fate of his parents was the day she almost lost him.

"Hey, hey, look at me Grant" she cupped his face in both her hands "calm down, don't lose yourself to it again" she talked him down, eyes locking.

"S.H.I.E.L.D killed him; they took him when he did nothing. They-they" he snarled "they took him in to the fridge, then they experimenting on him. They tried to find, extract and enhance his powers and in the process killed him" she finished for him calmly.

"Grant, look at me. It will be ok, just focus on me" she told him feeling the heat of his skin, she felt it tighten under her grip and she knew she was losing him, he was letting himself slip and letting the rage take over.

"Stay looking at me, just look at me. Don't think about anyone else" she let her control go and shows who she became, something she only ever did around him, "just stay looking at me" she held his hands and led him back to their currant house.

"Sit down" she ordered and he took a seat on the closed toilet seat, kept his eyes on her like she was his life line and he was drowning. She took off his jacket and shirt first, put them to the side to wash. She doubted they would be salvageable. Then his jeans, instructing him like a child.

She took a wet cloth and started wiping down his hands then his arms and his face to get rid of the blood. "Come on, in the shower" she sighed, stripping her own clothes and turning on the warm water.

She wiped the rest of the blood away under the stream of water "let me" he took the cloth from her gently and started washing her slowly and carefully.

There was nothing sexual unlike their usual showers together, this time every touch spoke of how much they cared for the other.

"Thank you" he whispered into her hair as they lay in bed that night.

/

The ceremony was small but he's planned it all. There was a few people they met over the years and got to know well enough to name friends, Kara was there (otherwise known as agent 33, they'd found her after San Juan and helped her).

Cal even made it, she appreciated his apology for how he treated her and he gave her away.

Grant sorted out everything, arranged it all and even left her an array of dresses to choose from with flower details somewhere on each.

/

"When we met I was…there's no way to describe it. And I missed you completely, I was an idiot. But you? You saved me, you saved me then and you saved me in San Juan. You're the reason I am still me and that 'me' is not just a monster. Without you I would be someone else"

/

"I didn't want to care for you, at first you were just another pawn. Then I saw more in you and at San Juan…you didn't turn away from me. When you didn't need me you still stayed. When everything I wanted was done I found something new, I found a home"


End file.
